Disposable Emesis Bag with Comfort Features

ABSTRACT

A disposable emesis bag comprising a soft cushioning material at the opening of the bag to improve the user&#39;s comfort while vomiting. The soft cushioning material can be attached only to the portions of the bag that come into contact with the user&#39;s nose or chin, or around the entire perimeter of the opening of the bag.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 61/419,229, filed Dec. 2, 2010, and U.S. provisionalpatent application No. 61/486,616, filed May 16, 2011, which are bothincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to fluid containment bags andparticularly to a disposable bag for collection and disposal of emesis.

BACKGROUND

There are many illnesses and conditions that cause vomiting. Forexample, pregnancy often causes morning sickness; cancer treatment oftencauses vomiting; and many healthy people become nauseated to the pointof vomiting in moving vehicles such as buses or airplanes. In manycases, the episode of vomiting can occur in a public place with no wayfor the sufferer to get to a bathroom, which adds humiliation to thedistress of being sick.

To help people cope with this problem, many types of emesis bags existon the market. Typically, these are disposable paper or plastic bagsthat can contain the vomitus long enough to enable the patient to get toa suitable disposal location. Such a bag can be placed in the seatpocket of an airplane for a passenger, or carried on one's person if oneis pregnant or afflicted with an illness that causes frequent vomiting.The most common design for a disposable emesis bag is a plastic-coatedpaper bag with a rectangular bottom; this is the typical air-sicknessbag. Some such bags, such as the one described in U.S. application Ser.No. 11/704,606 to Longo, come bundled with a kit that includes breathmints, moist towelettes, and other materials that can help a personclean themselves up after having vomited.

One of the issues that is not addressed by the disposable emesis bagdesign is the fact that holding a typical disposable emesis bag to one'sface is not very comfortable for the user's nose or chin. While thereare emesis basins and containers in existence that have specially shapedopenings that conform to the user's face, those basins and containersare typically larger, less portable, reusable, and thus more suited forhospital use than for portability and easy disposal. For example, U.S.application Ser. No. 09/764,580 to Parker discloses an emesis containerthat has a funnel-shaped mouth area for conforming to the user's face.While such a funnel is more comfortable for the user than the opening ofa paper bag, the container disclosed in the Parker application is toocumbersome to carry or to tuck into a seat pocket of an airplane.

A need therefore exists for a disposable emesis bag that is morecomfortable to hold to one's face than a typical air sickness bag, butthat is not more cumbersome, complex, or significantly more expensive tomanufacture than a typical air sickness bag.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention improves the comfort of a typical emesis bag byadding cushioning material to the opening of the bag for the user's noseand chin. The emesis bag of the present invention is a foldable paper orplastic bag, or a paper bag with a plastic coating, comprisingcushioning material attached to the opening of the bag. The cushioningmaterial can be a strip of foam or other soft material that feels morecomfortable than the edge of a paper bag. Since the cushioning materialis compressible, it does not add a lot of bulk to the bag when it isfolded.

There are several advantages to having the cushioning material at theopening of the bag. First of all, an uncushioned plastic or paper bag issimply not very comfortable when held to the face. Secondly, theuncushioned open end of a plastic or paper bag, held to the face, canleave scratches or pressure marks on the user's nose or chin. For userswho vomit frequently, this adds unpleasantness to what is already a veryunpleasant experience. Finally, the open end of a plastic or paper bagdoes not provide a good seal against the user's face, thus allowingdistressing sounds and odors to escape to a much greater degree.

The cushioning material can be foamed plastic, foamed rubber, or anyother material known to those skilled in the art as a material that issoft, light, nontoxic, and easily compressible.

In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the cushioning materialis attached only to two areas of the opening of the bag—the areas likelyto come in contact with the user's nose and chin. The cushioningmaterial is wide and thick enough to prevent the user's nose or chinfrom coming into contact with the bag's edge. Since the cushioningmaterial is only placed at two locations on the bag's opening, it doesnot add a lot of bulk to the bag when it is folded.

In another non-limiting embodiment of the invention, the cushioningmaterial is attached to the entire circumference of the opening of thebag. This provides greater comfort to the user's face, since thecushioning material can also contact the user's cheeks; however, theextra cushioning material adds more bulk to the bag when it is folded.

The emesis bag can also comprise other features such as an adhesive orVelcro strip for sealing the bag after use, an attached pocket forclean-up items such as a moist towelette or breath-freshening mints,moisture-absorbing material on the inside of the bag, or other featuresknown in the art to improve the comfort and functionality of adisposable emesis bag.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, comprising aseparate cushion for the nose and a separate cushion for the chin.

FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention,comprising cushioning material all around the mouth of the bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention. Bag 100 is agusseted foldable bag with a rectangular bottom, preferably made ofplastic-coated paper. The bag is made in such a way as to be imperviousto water or other fluids for a long enough time period to enable theuser to dispose of the bag and its contents safely. Velcro strips 110enable the user to seal the bag after use. Gussets 120 and 130 arepartially folded as mountain folds rather than valley folds so that theopening of the bag can better fit the user's face.

Cushions 140 and 150 are thin strips of soft material that are securelyattached to gussets 120 and 130. In the preferred embodiment, the softmaterial is a polyethylene foam. When the bag is in use, cushion 140contacts the user's nose and cushion 150 contacts the user's chin, orvice versa; this prevents the user's nose or chin from coming intocontact with the edge of the paper bag. When the bag is folded, thecushions 140 and 150 are folded into the gusset; due to thecompressibility of the material from which they are made, they do notadd significant bulk to the folded bag.

FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention. In thatembodiment, cushion 160 is one strip of soft material that is securelyattached all around the opening of the bag 100. When the bag is in use,the cushion 150 contacts the user's nose, chin, and cheeks; thisprovides more comfort for the user. Furthermore, due to the fact thatthe cushioning material fills more of the airspace between the user'sface and the edge of the bag, distressing sounds and odors are lesslikely to be perceptible. When the bag is folded, cushion 160 is foldedinto the gusset, similarly to the cushions in FIG. 1.

1. An emesis bag, comprising: a disposable bag having a hollow interior,a bottom, and an open end, with said bottom sealed; cushioning materialattached to said open end, said cushioning material at least partiallycoming into contact with the user's face when the emesis bag is in use.2. An emesis bag as in claim 1, wherein said cushioning material isattached to the entire circumference of said open end.
 3. An emesis bagas in claim 1, wherein said cushioning material is attached only tocertain portions of said open end.
 4. An emesis bag as in claim 1,wherein said cushioning material is a polyethylene foam.